Venus is the third brightest object in the sky and it is very easy to find. I recommend Venus as a good first object for new observers, it is out very early in the night and visible for much of the year.
Venus looks like a mini moon when observed through a telescope. Venus goes through crescent phases like the moon and you will be able to see the crescent shape. With the right equipment and conditions you may be able to make out some of the slightly blue or yellowish colors of the planet.
Unlike the moon, Venus does not have much surface detail to observe, even with very powerful telescopes you cannot observe the geography of Venus. It is too far away and the atmosphere is too thick to see the surface of the planet.
Venus is called the morning star and the evening star because it is the first and last star that you see when observing the sky. It is very bright and often mistaken for a star.
Venus is the first object that I ever saw through a telescope. We were visiting an astronomy outreach at a local children’s museum, when I saw it. It was beautiful and exciting to see something that was so far away and so mysterious.
Planets are great first targets because we know more about some of them and they are easy to find. When I am doing outreach we often observe Jupeter and Saturn because it is so exciting to see them in person when we have learned about them since we were children.
How to Locate Venus
Venus can be observed low to the horizon following sunset and before sunrise.
You will never see Venus, at midnight or close to zenith because it orbits very close to the sun and it sets very soon after the sun and rises right before the sun. When the sun is at the zenith, Venus is also close to that position.
Venus can be found by scanning the horizon right after sunset or before sunrise.
Venus is visible in the Northern Hemisphere for most of the year, being most brilliant in late October.
Venus is always the third brightest object in the sky, following the sun and the moon.
Venus is often described as the morning and evening star because of its appearance right after sunset and right before sunrise.
Filters for Observing Venus
Venus being so bright benefits from the use of a Moon filter or Neutral Density filter.
These filters dim the light of an object you are observing, this increases the observed contrast between the planet and the field behind them.
This makes the planet stand out. It can be hard to look at Venus for very long because of its brightness. Eyes do not like looking at a bright object for a very long time.
Be careful when observing Venus because it can disrupt your dark adaptation. Our eyes need to adapt to viewing objects as dim as stars and Nebulae and looking at bright planets can disrupt that process. Read more about dark adaptation in this post where we discuss all the ways you can optimize your vision for observing.
While it may be uncomfortably bright to observe the planet it will not damage your eyes.
Why is Venus hard to image?
Venus is hard to image because it is so low to the horizon, very bright, moves quickly and rises and sets so close to the sun. It is common to fail when imaging Venus and it may take several attempts to get an image you are happy with.
Atmospheric Turbulence
Closer to the horizon the atmospheric turbulence is greatest. This is like looking through hot air. You see the movement of the air and it distorts the image behind it. This is what happens in front of Venus when you are trying to image it close to the horizon.
Atmospheric turbulence is a condition that is worse on some days than others, so conditions vary from day to day.
Brightness
Glare from the sun makes Venus hard to photograph. Using special filters or an Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC) may help with the very bright glare on Venus, but even with tools you may not be able to correct it when it is at its brightest.
When imaging Venus it is not necessary to have a very high exposure. High exposures are necessary when imaging very dim objects. Venus is very bright so keep the exposure very low. Low gain is best for Venus as well.
I have seen some great images of Venus snapped on cell phones, so less is more.
Tracking
Because of our relative position to Venus, it moves very fast across the sky. Computerized tracking may lose Venus when attempting a long exposure photograph.
Telling your scope to track with the sun may work, if your telescope has solar tracking use it to see if you can get better results.
Timing
Venus rises and sets very close to the sun making the imaging window very small.
Try imaging Venus at dawn or dusk for a very different image. Daytime Venus looks a lot like the moon.
The mystery and difficulty of Venus makes it a very exciting target for photography and visual observing.
What we know about Venus
Learning about objets I am observing makes it so much more exciting to find and observe these objects with our own eyes.
If we could observe Venus with a more powerful telescope we would see the white cloudy atmosphere. The thick clouds make it impossible to see any surface detail or geography of the planet.
The atmosphere of venus is made of carbon dioxide so it traps heat from the sun on its surface, making it the hottest planet in the solar system despite being further from the sun than Mercury.
There is a lot of mystery surrounding Venus and some debate about the composition of the planet’s atmosphere.
There have been quite a few missions to Venus to collect data about the planet and about 38 have been successful with over 20 probes or spacecraft visiting the planet.
Soviet’s Verena 9, 10 and 12 are the most successful visitors to Mars, spending a few hours combined on the planet. They were able to capture images and record temperature readings before being destroyed by the intense heat and pressure.
There is currently one Japanese spacecraft orbiting Venus, collecting data and images.
